Process for obtaining low sulphur diisobutylene polymer



Feb' 12,' 1946- M. FRANKI. ET AL PROCESS FOR OBTAINING LOW SULPHUR DIISOBUTYLENE POLYMER Filed Sept. 18, 1943 E fo@ Saz QEEBEQQ .mi SEM Patented Feb. 12, i943 PROCESS FOR OBTAININGV LOW SULPHUR DIISOBUTYLENE POLYMER Mil-ton Frankel, Keesler` Field, Miss., and Meyer S. Agruss, Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Pure Oil -(Cornpany, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Ohio Application September 18, 1943, Serial No.' 502,882

4 claims. (01.260477) This invention is directed to the problem of removing sulphur compounds from liquid hydrocarbons and more particularly to the removal of sulphur compounds from polymers formed dur- .'the vacid absorption of the iso-butene content thereof contains in solution a small amount of polymer having a rather high sulphur content.

The polymer is valuable per se or after hydro-A ing polymerization of C4 olens in the presence` 5 genation as a motor fuel or as a motor fuel blendof sulphuric acid. f i ing fraction; However,the high sulphur content There is in commercial operation a process for is objectionable, among other reasons, because it preparing di-isobutene by absorption of isobutene decreases the lead susceptibility ofthe polymer in sulphuric acid, following by heating of the fat `andof the gasoline stock with which it is blended.` acid te a temperature at which the absorbed iso- 1o The sulphur Compounds in the polymer are dinibutene polymerizes to di-isobutene andtoa lesser cult to remove, particularly if the polymer has extent, to higher lboiling polymers. In the sobeen allowed to remain in storage for some time. called cold acid process a C4 fraction composed" Attempts t0 eliminate Sulphur compounds in the l cf n-butane, isobutane', n-butene and isobutene, polymer by treatment with caustic soda solution known as B-B cut and obtained by the stabilizaresulted only in partial removal thereof. v tion of cracked gasoline, is contacted with sul- We have found that if ysuch polymers are conphuric acid of approximately 65-'10% concentratacted with caustic soda solution at elevated temtion at temperatures of 45 C, at; a pressure of perature and then contacted with siliceous ad- 100 to 200 pounds per square inch for a period Sorptive material, such as silica ge1,.fullers earth of time of approximately 10 minutes with a hy- 20 or other similar Anatural 0I' Synthetic Clays 0f high drocarbon to acid ratio of from 1 of the former porosity, the sulphur compounds in the polymer to 4v of the latter, tc from 4 or the former w1 cante substantially completely eliminated. I l of the latter, and preferably at a ratio 'of about ,In order t0 make my invention more easily un- 1 to 1. Under these conditions isobutene is selecdefstood, reference S made t'1o the aooompanyng tively absorbed in the acid, and if conditi'onsare 25 drawing, which iS diagrammatic flow-,Sheet ol carefully controlled substantially no n-butenes the Various steps involved in produoing the fin-1 will be absorbed inthe acid. The fat acid is then ished polymer in accordance with my invention. heated to a temperature of approximately 200 to yNumeral I indicates a line through Whioh ,fresh 230 F. under a pressure of 150 pounds per square B-B out iS fed to the acid absorption and Polyinch or, higher for approximately 20 minutesin 30 Inolization plont- AS. previously stated, the fresh ordelto convert the .absorbed isbutene to di- B-B may be the overhead from the stabilizationl isobutene. The resulting polymer can readily be 0f thermal and/0r Cataiytoally Crooked gasolineseparated from the acid andmaybe utilized per Fresh B-B iS Pumped by vmeans of Dump 3, se as motor fuel or may be hydrogenated to make through Cooler 5, where the temperature is lowisomct'and j 35 ered to approximately 20 to .45 C., and .then In the operation just describedthe'residual Charged through the lines l and 9 into contact B-B cut not absorbed in the acid is recovered towel Il ,The fresh, B-B befoi'obeing pumped for use as blending stock for gasoline, or for use thrOugh cooler 5 into the contact tower ,Il is as a base stock in the manufacture of butadiene mixed With-9 portion of tholiquld Withdrawn from and for other purposes. The residual lB--B is 40 the Contact towel' il through line I3, and is fure recovered from the process in liquid state and ther mixed With partially Saturated acid Withcarries in solution a small amount of polymer. drawn from acid settler lithrough line il. The which may vary from 5l to 10% by volume of the liquid withdrawn through line I3 in addition to residual B-B. This polymer is separated `from acid may Contain aCid-B--B emulsion and/or unthe residual Bl-B by weathering or fractionation. absorbed B-B- 'n f v `The invention in this application resides in the Acid containing absorbed isobutene and Dossitreatment of the polymers separated from the bly n-butenesand unabsorbed B-B are withresidual B-B in order to remove sulphur theredrawn from the top of tower l l through line I9 from. andpassed to acid settler 2l, where the unab- It has been found that the residual B-B from sorbed B-B fraction is separated from the fat i i l acid. The pressure on .the system is sufficient to sion and/or acid from the bottom of contact tower 33 withdrawn through line 35 and with acid withdrawn from storage vessel `31 through line 39. of the isobutene and possibly n-butenes is absorbed in the acid. The semi-fat acid and un- 'absorbed B-B are withdrawn from tower 33 through line 4l to acid .settler l5. In acid set-` tler l5 the residual B-B separates from the fat acid and is withdrawn through line 43.

Before the B-B cut In the second tower 33, a further portion Fat acid fromA acid settler 2l is withdrawn through line 95 and pumped by means of pumpv 91 through heater 99 at a pressure of 150 pounds per square inch or higher. In heater 49 the temperatureof the fat acid is raised to approximately 200 to 230 F. at which temperature the absorbed isobutene and any n-butenes present polymerizes to iso-octenes (dimer) and toa lesser extent to isododecenes (trimer). The hot. polymer-acid mixture is then cooled in cooling coil 5l to l approximately atmospheric temperature and then passed to acid settler 53 where the poly-2 mer separates from the acid. The acid is withdrawn through line 55 to storage vessel 31"to be reused in the process. Make-up acid may be added through line 51. n

The separated polymer-is withdrawn from acid settler 53 through line 59 and mixed with'sum- 'cient aqueous caustic soda solution from line 6l to neutralize any remainingfacid. The polymercaustic soda mixture passes to caustic soda set-f tler 63 where the caustic soda solution separates from the polymer. Polymer is withdrawn from the settler through line 65 and passes `to storage.

such as to prevent vaporization of the caustic soda solution and polymer, but the temperature at the bottom of column is sufficiently high to eliminate C4 hydrocarbons and to cause hydrolysis of those sulphur compounds which are hydrolyzable. A temperature of 270 F. at the bottom of the column and a.Y pressure of approximately 75 pounds per square inch may be maintained in the debutanizing column. The temperature at the bottom of the column is obtained by means of a suitable reboiler connectedthereto. rThe products from the bottom of the debutanizing column pass through caustic soda settler 9| where the spent. caustic soda separates from the polymer. The spent caustic soda is withdrawn through line,` 93. The polymer is Withdrawnthrough line 95 and passed through clay tower 91. It is not necessary to cool the polymer prior to passage through the clay tower,

but'it may be advisable to maintain pressure on the tower sufficient to keep the polymer in liquid state. Finished-polymer is withdrawn from the top of the clay tower through line 99. A standby clay tower may bef'provided Awhich c'an be put on stream when the clay in the other tower loses its activity.- The clay or'silica gel may bere-v activated by blowing with steam followed by air blowing at elevated temperature or in any other conventional manner.

Instead of treating the residual B---By containing polymer with caustic soda inl debutanizing The spent caustic is withdrawn from settler 63 through yline 61.

Residual B-B withdrawn mixed with sufficient caustic soda solution from through line 43 is i I' line .69"to neutralize the acid content thereof.

The residual B-B caustic soda mixture passes through line 1l to caustic-soda -settler 13 where the aqueous solution separates from the residual B--B. Spent caustic is withdrawn from the settler through line 15 and the neutralized residual B-B is withdrawn through line 11 from' which it may pass to a debutanizing column 19 where the C4 hydrocarbons are fractionated from heavier material and taken overhead through partial condenser 80 where the condensedportion is returned to the debutanizer column 19 for reflux and the uncondensed portion passes through line 8l andcondenser 83 to collecting vessel 95.

Prior to charging thevresidual B-B from caustic soda 'settler 13 to debutanizing column 19 it may be mixed with a small amount, approximate- 1y l'to 20%, of alkalis'olution such as caustic soda of approximately 10% concentration. Two percent by volume of 10% caustic soda solution has been found to be satisfactory. The caustic soda solution is added through line 81. The causticsoda solution passes downwardly through the f debutanizingf column 19 with whatever .polymer was released during the acid contacting stages and dissolved in the residual B-B and the mixture of the two is withdrawn from the bottom of column through line 89. Temperature and pressure conditions are rrvaintained in column 19 able chamber.

column 19 the residual B-B may be debutanizedl without addition of alkali and the polymer from the bottom of debutanizing column collected' in a storage vessel for further treatment. such case the polymer may be contacted in a vessel, preferably countercurrently, with the caustic alkali solution ata temperature of 200 F. or higher, under suicient pressure to prevent evaporation,r or in a vessel equipped with a reux condenser to prevent loss of vapors from the treating vessel. After contacting with the alkali solution for a period of time such that no further reduction in sulphur content is obtained, the polymer is separated from the alkali solution and filtered through a bed ofadsorptive material such as activated clay or-silica gel contained in a suit- 'Ihe time of contact between alkali solution and polymer may vary from .approximately 10 minutes tol hour or more.

The temperature of contact between the polymer and the clayor silica gel may be atmospheric or at temperatures somewhat higher. Temperatures below 200 F. are preferred in order to avoid risk of further polymerization inthe clay tower.

In order to demonstrate the eilcacy of the invention in removingsulphur compound from polymer contained in residual B-B from a cold acid plant, a sample of such polymer, representing about 8% by volume of the residual B-B charged to the debutanizing column, was analyzed and determined to contain 0.81% by weight rof tacted with 20% ofthe same caustic soda solution for 5 hours at 280 Rand l15 pounds per square inch pressure. The sulphur content of the treated polymer was 0.34% by weight.

The polymer which had 'been treated with caustic soda solution under pressure was lthen fractionated to obtain a fraction boiling from 150 to 270 F. This particular fraction was chosen' because of its possible use in aviation gasoline. The polymer yielded 59.1% by volume of fraction boiling from 150 to 270 F. This fraction was analyzed for various types of sulphur compounds and for iodine number, and gave the following results: y

The balance of the sulphur content is probably in the form of non-hydrolyzable alkyl sulphates. The 150-270 F. cut was illtered througha bed of silica gel at atmospheric temperature and the sulphur on the filtered fraction was determined to be only 0.008. The original polymer, without prior heating with caustic alkali solution, was also filtered through a bed of silica gel. c Its sulproduct was over 100, thereby indicating a'high lead susceptibility for this material. l

It will be seen. therefore, that we have succeeded in devising a. method for removing harinful sulphur compounds from polymer formed in the acid polymerization of oleflnic hydrocarbons.

In the drawing whichaccompanies this application no attempt has been made to incorporate all the auxiliaries such asvalves and pumps which may' be necessary for operation of the process.

Such awciliaries as are necessary will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Itis claimed: 1. A process for obtaining low sulphur diisobutylene formed by contacting a C4 fraction obtained from the stabilization of cracked gasoline distillate with sulphuric acid having a concentration of approximately 65% under pressure suillcient to maintain` the'C4t fraction in liquid phur content was reduced to 0.016. After illtering another sample of the original polymer through a bed of fullers earth of to 60 mesh, the sulphur was reduced to 0.015%.

I'he A. S. T. M. octane number of the original polymer separated from the residual B--B Was 83. Thefraction thereof boiling between 150 to 270 F. after treatment to reduce sulphur content to 0.008, was hydrogenated in the presence of a nickel catalyst at 165 F. The iodine number was reduced from 229 to 6 and the octane number of the hydrogenated product was 94. On addition of 2.66 c.. c. of tetraethyl lead pergallon of phase and at temperatures of approximately 20- C. and separating from the C4 fraction, con` stituents boiling above the boiling point of C4 hydrocarbons containing diisobutylene, comprising `contacting said higherA boiling constituents with boiling caustic alkali solution and then illtering said constituents through siliceous adsorptive material at a temperature below the vaporization temperature of diisobutylene. 1

2. Process in accordance with claim 1 in which the adsorptive material'is silica gel.

3. Process in accordance with claim 1 in which the adsorptive material is fullers earth.

4. Process in accordance with claim 1 in which the higher boiling constituents are fractionated from the residual C4 hydrocarbons simultaneously with contacting said constituents with boiling caustic alkali solution.

` MILTON FRANKEL.

MEYER S. AGRUSS. 

